The Encourager Newsletter - Vol. 4 Issue 9 - April 23, 2010 - Trees - Prayer

Trees

Sequoia trees live about 2000 years and only for100 years men started to drive through them with cars. The tallest tree of all is Hyperion measuring115.55 m, making him the world's tallest living thing. At the website of Alameda, CA you can find dozens of postcards of the most popular drivethroughs through the times. It's really interesting to compare them. (But the whole collection is worth a click.) Drive Thru Redwood Tree Postcards. The pictures above are of the world-famous Wawona drive-through tree.

"I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the sweet earth's flowing breast

A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree."

Joyce Kilmer. 1886–1918

My father worked with trees all of his life. During the "second depression" of 1938-40 the lumber market plunged and he had a yard of lumber destined to rot. After bankruptcy he turned from lumber to hardwood precision products such as tool handles and agriculture handles; shuttle blocks and picker sticks used in the weaving industry. If it was really good hickory, it was sawed into skis or shunt poles used by the railroads in Europe. Smaller pieces went into ladder rungs for firemen's ladders'. They had to be first class, no-flaw white hickory that would hold a 200-pound fireman a hundred feet in the air.

I loved to work in his mills, carrying water for the workers, rolling sawdust and stacking handles at 8; and grading handles and skis and buying and grading logs and making payroll at 16. Wood smells good when it's being sawed. When ash is being sawed for pitch fork and shovel handles it smells like sweet potatoes.

We lived up on the hill above Grandpa in Medlock Hollow. He had a garage that housed the '29 A Model Ford we used for church, store, town and doctor's office. Beside it, was parked a dusty Model T adorned with spider webs that was never driven, never fired off. I never knew why. I drove it a lot with my own powerful engine and loud horn—to town, to Chicago, California, and Connecticut and all the other towns I could pick up in fireside conversations of guests. (In your mind is what counts.) A long trip like that can make you tired and eager for mother to tuck you in at night.

Grandpa's Model T was an open touring car and sometimes a hen that had flown over the fence out of the chicken yard would roost in the window for the night. Good deal for the hen to roost above the foxes and it kept the sides of the T interesting.

One day the T was gone and that was an earthquake! Down the road at the end of the half-mile driveway and across the steel bridge there lived the Shirley Tinch family. The Depression and a house full of children and no land was an extreme poverty thing. Sometimes we waited for the school bus at their house but my mother didn't like it. Community opinion had it that the main income was from bootlegging you-know-what. But they were nice and the kids played well.

The back of their house was almost over the creek and at times there was enough water to run their turning lathe to make chair posts. The chairs were bottomed with hickory cane made by hand with a horse shoeing drawing knife. Thin slivers of hickory wood soaked for several hours made a very durable chair bottom. http://www.adkdesign.com/hickory.htm. Hickory is the most durable and densest of woods in America. When used in chair bottoms the chairs last more than a lifetime and hold their value. You rarely have to re-cane a hickory chair.

Shirley Tinch and my grandpa made a deal and the Model T was gone. A few weeks later I heard a terrible racket down on the highway that crossed the steel bridge at the end of Medlock Hollow. I could tell it had no muffler and was laboring to make the turn and climb the hill after crossing the steel bridge. A few days later I was out on the highway and heard that same noise. Here came Grandpa's Model T. The engine was louder than the engine I used for traveling the U.S. and the horn was neither honk nor beep but ooooga!

The back of the car body had been cut off and a flat truck bed had been built. Mr. Tinch had loaded the truck as high as he could get it with straight chairs and rocking chairs and had them tied with rope. The Model T labored hard under its load as they went out on another mission to peddle Tinch hickory chairs. With no exaggeration, It looked a lot like Jed Clampett's family truck on Beverly Hillbillies.

We're still talking about trees, the things stick houses and furniture are made of. God knows a lot about making trees, all kinds of trees and petunias and He knows a lot about dropping water 3,000' on delicate flowers and about making tree roots to hold up all that weight in a wind storm and roots that go deep enough to bring up water in dry weather. If you study beautiful orchids and giant Sequoia trees you have to admit God knows a lot about making things.

After he was fifty, one day Dad was going through the woods counting hickory trees on a plot of land and as he crossed a shallow creek he stepped onto a slick, flat rock and fell. He had a big wad of keys in his pocket and he brought 200 pounds down onto those keys and the slick rock. It broke his hip. While he was bottled up in the house healing for several weeks, he had time to think about life in general and about his own life in particular.

He didn't read much and there was no TV in those days. He was stuck—with himself. Nothing to do but think—and pray. A leading industrialist of the last century said: "I can hire a man to do anything but think." A humorist captured the idea with one word: "Thimk!" Someone said that if an average man would sit down and think ten minutes about his inevitable meeting with the living God that he would be sufficiently sobered to fall on his knees in repentance and ask God for mercy. Every time we see a tree or a flower we ought to think: "God has been here and left His footprints." Where can we go and God is not there?

The Bible includes "trees" 136 times. The first and last inclusions are:

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: (Genesis 3:2)

These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed (Revelation 11:4-5).

In the end, God is going to have His way. He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2Peter 3:9). If He knows how to design, make, and maintain an awesome variety of trees, He also knows how to deal with us. Today He is your loving and merciful Savior. Tomorrow He will be your unbending judge who knows everything you ever did or thought.

●Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. (Psalm 116:15)

●Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:11)

Prayer—Barbara Carr

Dan has talked, taught and preached the need of prayer in our lives. It is essential in our fellowship with God. We have just started reading as our morning devotional "All the Prayers of the Bible" by Herbert Lockyer. I knew there were many prayers in the Bible, but the Publisher's Foreword says that there are no fewer than 650 definite prayers and no less than 450 have recorded answers. I'm sure we will be blessed by reading this book along with the Bible.

"Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;" (Colossians 4:2)

"Pray without ceasing." (1Thessalonians 5:17)

We are to be in an attitude of prayer. I don't think it means that we must be on our knees all the time. But, we should be in an attitude of prayer and pray regularly throughout the day. When someone asks for prayer, we should pray for them—not to say we will pray and forget about it.

Our church at Flat Rock has a telephone prayer chain. When someone calls with a request, you call the next person on the list. If that person doesn't answer, you go to the next one on the list and so on. When we get that prayer call, we should stop what we are doing and pray. Don't wait until a convenient time.

Have you ever felt a burden to pray for a certain person or situation? One night my mother had gone to bed and said she felt the need to pray for her brother's children. They had been on Sand Mountain attending a family member's wedding. She told us about her burden to pray the next morning and asked if we had heard from them. We had not. The next day or two, someone called and asked if we knew that this family had had a wreck on the night in question. They had run under the rear of a truck loaded with hay. No one was hurt. We believe her prayers were answered.

Last week I read the following story which has been told by many and has been printed in missionary books. My thanks to the friend who sent it to me by email. The title is Twenty Six Men and the author is unknown.

Before I relate the story I should tell you that Urban Legends questions this story, pointing out that numerous stories have appeared over time like this one. My view is that equally convincing are the many people of sterling reputation over time who have told and written of similar things happening to them personally. Although the internet abounds with people who hijack true stories, that doesn't do away with what God does in His own way and time as often as He pleases.

There is not just one time that God answered somebody's prayer, but millions of times. There's the story of the mother awakened to pray for her son who at that moment was in a dog fight with a Russian MIG in the air over Korea.

There's the story of Dan's friend, Ida Brawl and her small children abandoned by her husband in Michigan with a snow storm moving in. Without food or wood in a cold house, she and the children knelt and told the Lord about their situation. Soon a man knocked on the door and said he was reading his paper when suddenly he was strongly overcome with the notion that she and the children needed wood and food. He stacked her porch full of wood and brought food.

There are so many stories like this that it is impossible to deny them or to rely on Snopes to give you the world-wide truth for all time in history, even though they try to do a good job of investigation.

I'm going to hold to this story and I present it to you as I found it. I believe if we could find all the stories like this, there would be…milllions of them because there have been millions of people who have called on God in times of need.

"A missionary on furlough told this story while visiting his home church in Michigan. While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies.

"This was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway point. On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the field hospital. Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting; one of whom had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time witnessed to him of the Lord Jesus Christ. I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident. Two weeks later I repeated my journey.

"Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines. He said, 'Some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.'

"At this I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone out in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point, however, and said, 'No sir, I was not the only person to see the guards. My five friends also saw them and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone.' At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he would tell him the exact day that this happened.

"The missionary told the congregation the date and the man who interrupted told him this story: 'On the night of your incident in Africa, It was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong; I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?' The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn't concerned with who they were—he was too busy counting how many men he saw. He counted twenty six men." Ω

The Encourager Newsletter - Vol.4 Issue 8 - April 2, 2010 - The Eastern/Golden Gate - Gardens

The Eastern/Golden Gate

Why would one 50-acre spot of land be the center of world controversy and the hottest piece of real estate anywhere on earth? You are looking at pictures of it at left (two views): The Eastern Gate adjoining the site of the Jewish Temple; the gate through which Jesus rode on a donkey on his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. If you could buy a gravesite on the down slope to the Kidron Valley or the up slope in front of the above stone gate, it would cost you at least $50,000.

Why would anyone want to be buried on those slopes in front of a stone wall? The Golden Gate (Eastern Gate) in the eastern wall of Jerusalem gave access to the courtyards of the Temple from the Kidron valley. I once waited outside the gate at Disney World in Orlando, Florida with a bus load of students with tickets to get in as soon as the park opened. In the picture above it looks like the dead are waiting for the gate to open. Moslems are buried on the up slope to the gate. Jews are buried on the down slope from Mount Olivet. A lesser number of Christians are included…somewhere.

The Jews and Christians wanted to meet the coming Messiah who is prophesied to enter the sealed eastern gate. The Moslems were told that Jesus would come here to participate in a Moslem judgment of the dead. I have included some of the most important things out of the great mass of material available. Google it: type in "Golden Gate Jerusalem."

It is interesting that this gate is the only one of the eight gates in Jerusalem that is sealed. The Arabs believe that since the Jews were expecting their Messiah to come through this gate (Sha'ar harachamim) they would try to prevent any possibility of His return. The East gate was walled up by its Muslim conquerors (the Ottoman Turks) with great stones in 1530 A.D. and a cemetery was planted in front of it thinking that the Jewish Messiah could not set foot in a cemetery and therefore would not be able to come through the gate as they believed the Jewish prophecy described.

Entrance of the Jewish Messiah through this gate was foretold by known Old Testament prophecies. Ezekiel prophesied around 600 B.C. about the shutting of this gate. Much discussion is written on the specifics of Ezekiel 44:1-3. Some believe this to be about the Jewish Messiah and others that the gate pertains to David. However, Jesus is going to reign upon the throne of David in Jerusalem and at that point Jesus and David run together.

Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. And he said to me, "This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut. Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way. (Ezek. 44:1-3)

Jesus entered Jerusalem through the East gate around 30 A.D. as he came down from the Mount of Olives and entered the temple. The original gate through which he entered was destroyed with the city by the Romans in70 A.D. The remains of that gate have been found under the present gate. Jesus said: Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord (Mat.23:38-39). (See also: Jeremiah 12:7)

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it (Zech.12:2-3)

And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south (Zech 14:4)

On December 12, 1917 Britain's General Edmund Allenby surrounded Jerusalem and demanded the Turks surrender. The Turks surrendered without a shot being fired. The Ottoman Turks gained possession of Jerusalem in what was then known as Palestine in 1516. They held possession over this land until the fateful day of Dec. 12, 1917. This was the very day history records that the Turks were preparing to have the Eastern Gate opened.

On June 7th, 1967 Jordan's King Hussein had made plans to open up the Eastern Gate in an apparent attempt to disprove Bible prophecy. It was also on this incredible day that the famed 6-Day War ended and Israel regained possession of the eastern portion of Jerusalem. This included the Eastern Gate.

The Eastern gate is presently considered by the Arabs to be their exclusive property. It is sealed up and blocked off. However one day, the Messiah will return to earth with all His saints. He will land on the Mount of Olives (which will split in half) and will walk down to and right through the Eastern Gate and into the Temple area.

We are approaching the annual celebration of Easter Sunday, commemorating the resurrection of Christ from the dead. One of my early favorite songs was: I Will Meet You in the Morning Just inside the Eastern Gate. It's one of those wonderful songs of powerful hope that doesn't get everything just right but its imagery lives on. I was glad to hear this old friend at funerals. It soothed aching hearts and opened the curtains toward Heaven. Ω

Gardens—Barbara Carr

This is one of the pictures Dan took of our garden last year. You can see the squash on the right, onions in the bed and okra upper left. The green beans and tomatoes are out of the picture on the right. I believe it was the prettiest and most productive garden we have ever had. We had been living in Southern Pines, NC the majority of the time for several years and our garden had not been tended. In order to have this garden we had to practically start from scratch. We had to dig and haul natural fertilizer. We then planted. We laid newspaper in the rows and covered it with pine straw. It was a labor of love for a while, then it became a labor of two tired people, but we persevered and were proud of our labor.

There was a beautiful garden long before Dan and I ever thought of a garden. The most beautiful that was ever created—The Garden of Eden. The Lord God had created a garden. The whole world probably looked like a beautiful garden then, because God had just created it. But, this was a special garden. He had created this garden for the man he created. "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." (Gen 2:15) (See:Genesis 2:8-15)

At this time of year we are thinking of another garden. The garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives was a place where our Lord Jesus often went to pray. (Luke 22:39) Jesus and the disciples left the last supper after singing a hymn. They went to Gethsemane. There Jesus asked the disciples to wait while he went to pray. He took Peter, James and John with Him. But they were tired and went to sleep.

"Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. 37) And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

38) Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. 39) And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

40) And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41) Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

42) He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. 43) And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.

44) And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45) Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46) Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me." (Mat 26:36-46)

Jesus was the God-man. As He began to feel anxiety and dread He began to pray. Jesus was covered in human flesh, so he experienced the world as we do. But, Jesus won every life battle He faced. The answer to His victory is what He did in the garden of Gethsemane. He went to an out-of-the-way place and prayed until His will was fully surrendered to the Father. He won the battle on His knees.

Jesus left the garden victorious even though He was a prisoner. He knew the pain and agony He was soon to suffer, but He accepted God's will for His life. Jesus our Savior gave His life willingly that we might have eternal life. He put everything in the Father's hands. Now, Jesus was facing the cross and all the cruel punishment inflicted upon Him. He died with our sins on His shoulders.

Jesus did not remain in the grave. We believe in the resurrection—that He arose after three days. Many believe there was a man named Jesus and that He did die on the cross. It is essential for Christians to believe in the resurrection in order to have eternal life. If He had not possessed power over the grave, His death on the cross means nothing. Our Lord made salvation possible by conquering sin and death. He was victorious over the grave.

We often face troubles here on earth. God uses this to conform us; to help us be more like Jesus. What did Jesus do when facing trials? He prayed. On this occasion He went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. We should learn from this that prayer and surrender to God is our answer. The hymn In the Garden is such a beautiful song.

"I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses, And the voice I hear, falling on my ear, The Son of God discloses.

He speaks and the sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing,And the melody that He gave to me, within my heart is ringing.

I'd stay in the garden with Him tho' the night around me be falling, But He bids me go; Thro' the voice of woe His His voice to me is calling.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own; And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known."

We are rejoicing over the resurrection and waiting His return. We should be a joyful people and keep looking up. May you all have a Blessed and Happy Easter. Ω

If want a computer copy, go to encourager@biblewalking.com. In the subject line type: subscribe. Please include your name.

●http://www.templemount.org/tunnel.html ●http://raptureready.com/featured/reagan/dr27.html ●http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_%28Jerusalem%29 ●http://rapturewatch.cephasministry.com/365%20The%20Golden%20Gate.html ●http://www.bibleplaces.com/oldcitygates.htm ●http://www.webcamplaza.net/master_frame_fix.html?http://www.webcamplaza.net/rotating/kotel_big.html ●http://www.wordofmessiah.org/april_05_2.htm

The Encourager Newsletter - Vol.4 Issue 7 - March 26, 2010 - This Same Jesus... -Who is Jesus?

This Same Jesus…

A trusted doctor was writing it all down with the precision of a medical scholar. The smartest people have not all lived in our day. The beloved physician was known for getting it right and filling in more detail than most writers. His practice of the healing art required him to carefully observe the smallest details and slightest evidences of health and disease. That's one reason why the gospel account by his name, Luke, is liked by so many people. In writing the book of The Acts of the Apostles (some say it would be more accurate to call it The Acts of the Holy Spirit), Dr. Luke gets right into his reporting.

As the story opens, He says that Jesus rose from the dead and was with the apostles forty days, explaining things to them. He instructed them to wait in Jerusalem until they were baptized by the Holy Spirit and endued with power from on high for carrying out the work He left for them to do. Jesus was not standing at a nice podium and the apostles were not sitting in nice padded pews in a nice stone building housing a nice organ.

They were standing on a well-known rugged mountain ridge in east Jerusalem with three peaks running from north to south. The highest peak was 2,683 ft. and it took its name from the olive groves that covered its slopes. It was known as the Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet. For centuries workers had gathered olives from those trees and pressed the precious oil from them to be used for healing and cooking and light.

The Garden of Gethsemane was a beautiful place among the trees where oil was pressed out of the harvested olives. Jesus loved to visit there with his disciples. In our story today, He was again on the Mount of Olives with his disciples, now known as Apostles since they had witnessed his resurrection from the dead. They had also witnessed his fulfilling of many Jewish prophecies.

As they were standing there listening to Jesus' instructions about waiting in Jerusalem until the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them, Jesus suddenly began to rise upward from the place where he was standing. That must have stunned them beyond measure. He continued to slowly rise up and up and up and grew smaller and smaller as a cloud came over him and he disappeared from their sight.

They had not noticed two other men standing with them—strangers—suddenly there among them. These two strange men had a message for the Apostles: Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:11). It would take several pages to review what this same Jesus did in eternity past since all things were made by Him and without him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3). And how much space to examine what He is going to do in the future? The photos posted on the internet by NASA are vast and record some of Jesus' work of the past.

Much of God's work looks so ordinary and the people who do His work look so ordinary. That should encourage every one of us ordinary people to serve the Lord with a cheerful heart, doing whatever God puts in our hands to do. Jesus was God in the flesh but he must have looked so ordinary that he didn't look out of place until he opened his mouth or until he healed a paralytic or raised someone from the dead. Did he look out of the ordinary when he lay exhausted and asleep in the back of the boat and the storm threatened to drown them all? Didn't he look so ordinary that his disciples were scared out of their wits?

The idea that God, Himself would impregnate a teenage girl He had made and through her enter Himself into the human race as one of us is far above my head. I cannot take it in. And He did such a good job of it that He looked just like one of us. He did not come to be "one of the good-ole boys" but that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. All of us brethren who have cast our lot with Him. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29) Can you take that in?

In carrying this out there is a time line. It is illustrated by Abraham's descendants who had to spend 400 years in Egypt multiplying before God could give them the land He promised Abraham. The other thing that had to take place was God's running account of the wickedness of the Amorites, the people who occupied the land that the Jews were about to possess. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Genesis 15:16)

Jesus was born to die for the sins of the world. He also came to rule and reign over the earth from the throne of His father David in the city of Jerusalem. But another part of God's program is going on. The seventieth week of Daniel must first take place (Daniel 9:23-27). This is referred to as the time of Jacob's Trouble and The Great Tribulation. This is yet to come and it looks like it cannot be far away.

We are between the 69^th Week of Daniel and the 70^th Week of Daniel. A week equals seven years. I invite you to hear this week's message: Can Our Iniquity Be Far from Full? by Pastor Charles Garrison of Calvary Memorial Church. The audio of that has been posted and you can access it by clicking the link above (47 minutes). There is also a video if you have a program installed to enable you to catch the stream. Very timely! The apostles were told that Jesus would be gone for a while but would return. When Jesus was born, wise men came from the east seeking Him. Wise men still seek Him. Foolish people ignore Him and make excuses for their unconcern.

And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began (Acts 3:20-21)

…he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead (Acts 17:30-31).

This same Jesus is your only hope of eternal life in heaven. If you do not know Him, get on your knees and bow your head before Him. Ask Him to come into your heart as your Lord and Savior because you intend to live for Him the rest of your life. Ω

Who Is Jesus?—Barbara Carr

The Jews sent priests and Levites to inspect John when he was baptizing in the Jordan River. They asked him: "Who are you?" He said that he was not the Christ or the expected Elijah. The major intellects of Israel had been waiting for centuries from the time of Moses for the promised one to come. The common people had absorbed bits and pieces of this expectation and passed it along to their children who passed it along to their children.

When John baptized Jesus and he began to do miraculous things and the people loved to hear him preach. They began to ask each other: "Who is Jesus?" One day he asked his disciples about this rumor: "He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Mat 16:15-16)

Jesus' commented to Peter's answer: "…Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 16:17)

Several weeks ago our pastor asked the question: "Who do you believe Jesus is?" The question caught us off guard because we didn't know exactly what he expected. The audience didn't respond. His next statement was, "You mean no one here knows who Jesus is? In that case, we are in sad shape." Then several people answered and he continued with the sermon.

Who is Jesus? He is our Lord and Savior, the One who gave His life's blood that we might be saved. Let's go to the scripture. First, Jesus is God the Son—one of the Trinity. When He was baptized by John the Baptist, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon Him. A voice from heaven (the Father) testified: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:16-17)

Who is Jesus? Next, He is the Savior of everyone in the world who will accept Him as Savior and Lord. In the beginning, Adam and Eve chose to sin. They discovered they were naked and the Lord made them aprons of skins. It took the blood of an animal to cover their sin. In the Old Testament this ritual was performed repeatedly. This practice continued until Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, died on the cross to atone for our sins, once and for all. Jesus Christ was the only one who could satisfy Gods' requirements for a sacrifice/savior, because he knew no sin.

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2Corinthians 5:21) Locke said this: "For God hath made him subject to suffering and death, the punishment and consequence of sin, as if he had been a sinner, though he were guilty of no sin."

Who is Jesus? Last, He is our High Priest. In the Old Testament a priest interceded between God and men. He would offer an animal sacrifice to atone for their sins. Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection took away the need for this sacrifice. Today, Christ is our intercessor. Today, He stands before God saying, "Father forgive them for their sins. Look at them through my blood and see them as washed clean and white as snow."

"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:14-15)

"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;" (Hebrews 7:25-26)

Who do you believe Jesus is? We've looked at a few of the Biblical characteristics of Jesus Christ. Do they line up with your understanding? All of us who have a personal relationship with Jesus may find it hard to put into words our feelings and beliefs on short notice. Someone has said that Jesus is who He claimed to be or else He is a lunatic or a liar. He can't be merely a "good man" because He claimed to be God in the flesh and if He is a liar He is not a good man. Let's ask the Lord to reveal Himself to us so we can give a good response to his question. Peter's answer was "the son of the living God." This is who Jesus is! King of King and Lord of Lords! Does that make you want to shout? Go ahead! No one is listening but your Savior. Ω

The Encourager Newsletter - Vol. 4 Issue 6 - March 19, 2010 - What is the End Time? - Warming Your Coffee

What is the End Time?

The Bible begins: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1). For all of us mortals that is the opening scene of our understanding of God and all that He made. This is our basic assumption and everything else is relative to this. It assumes that the writer, Moses, got it right. There is a time line that runs through the Bible and this is the beginning of the time line.

The end of the time line is expressed in several places in the Bible, most often quoted is Revelation 10:5-6: And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, (6) And swore by him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: (Revelation 10:5-6).

The end time does not mean that all time ceases to exist but that God is going to move quickly toward establishing His kingdom upon the earth. It is the end of the “times of the gentiles” and the end of “Jacob’s trouble” and the end of “the great tribulation.” There will be no delay of time. It is time to unfold all the things that must happen. See also: (Rev. 1:3), (Rev.10:6), (Rev.11:18), (Rev.12:12), (Rev. 12:14), (Rev. 14:15), (Rev. 22:10). It is an answer to the prayers of God’s people who have prayed: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). And it is an answer to the prayers of the martyred saints (Rev.6:9-10).

The phrase “no more” occurs 235 times in the Bible and indicates a ceasing of activity or condition. This is a list of 235 “end times” of many activities. If the Bible keeps track of so many things that ceased to be or ceased to function, why should we think it strange that there is one very big ‘NO MORE” or end time that wraps everything up? It is offensive to the “thinkers” of the world that God would have the audacity to sit in judgment upon them and bring all their plans and accumulated accomplishments to a grinding halt.

In our study today, time will continue another thousand years after this primary “end time” but the end of time has reached a “no more” point for bringing the world system to a halt and taking charge of the earth. Handel's oratorio, Messiah included a favorite passage: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever!” He’s quoting (Rev. 11:15) word-for-word.

No wonder the Bible is shoved aside by millions of people who know this book is exclusive and not simply one opinion among many opinions. The Bible claims to be right and the other views to be wrong. That’s why it is so hated. It is offensive to think that there is an end time and that all along there has been a time line in place by which God Almighty scheduled His program step by step to the very end. But if you believe the Bible then that’s what you believe. And if you do not know these things, isn’t it time you set aside a half-hour a day to get into your Bible and see what it says? The Bible is more than a paper weight.

God has appointed times in between the beginning and the ending. We can learn much from looking up such phrases as: “in the time appointed” and “the appointed time” and “the fullness of time.” For example, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world came not just any time but on God’s schedule: But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (5) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons (Galatians 4:4-5).

Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD. (Jeremiah 8:7)

Please permit me to violate established evolutionary and political orthodoxy and say that it is not possible for men to destroy the earth or the people of the earth with nuclear weapons nor with man-made global warming. It is possible to kill a lot of people and burn up a lot of real estate and to mismanage farms and swamps and forests, but there is a limit to what God permits men to destroy. The devil is the great destroyer. In Rev. 11:18

The Word speaks of “them which destroy the earth,” to destroy in the sense of corrupting the earth, or diverting God’s purpose and order. Not in the sense of doing away with the earth or the people of the earth.

The reason there is a limit to man’s power is that there is a God Almighty Creator who made the universe and within that vast domain is God’s pet project we call “earth.” God’s word says He … hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; (Acts 17:26). God is perfectly capable of managing what He has created and capable of seeing it through to His appointed end, thank you.

God put man in charge of some things. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth (Genesis 1:27-28).

The earth is peculiarly designed and peculiarly located to carry out God’s program of creating and redeeming a host of creatures called man and woman. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world (Acts 15:18).

The current furor over the theory of man-made global warming has a very good feature: it announces to the whole world that a global warming is coming that will melt the ice caps. It is wrong in one crucial point: it will not be of man’s making but of God’s doing. I find nowhere in Scripture that God made the earth and man in such a way that the final say of the earth’s survival is in the hands of frail, wicked men. Issues 4 and 5 of The Encourager Newsletter have focused on part of God’s end time program that is just around the corner.

Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture (Psalm 100:3). That is a square pill for the atheist and the agnostic to swallow. Ω

Warming Your Coffee—Barbara Carr

I recently heard a pastor tell this story. “I love coffee. I go to Starbucks and all the restaurants famous for good coffee and order a cup. In few minutes the waitress comes by and says, “Can I warm that for you?” I always say, “Yes, please.” The reason I always say yes is because no matter what I do to keep the coffee hot it gets cold. I wrap my hands around the cup, I hold the menu up to keep the fan from blowing on it, I do everything I can think of and it still gets cold.”

John writes in Revelation 3:15 about the church of Laodicea. “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.” Coffee is good either hot or cold, but tepid coffee is terrible! The Lord wants us to be hot or cold; not lukewarm. Our Christian life is like this. We are all fired up and before you know it we are lukewarm, or cold as ice. What causes this? It must be the lack of something.

Could it be the lack of searching the Scriptures? Two men were on the road to Emmaus after Jesus’ death on the cross. He walked with them, ate with them and opened the scriptures to them and then He was gone. After He was gone they realized it was Jesus. “And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” (Luke 24:32)

This comment tells us of the deep pleasure, the warm glow and intense love they felt in their hearts as He talked to them. Studying the Word of God will warm our hearts as we read what Jesus did for us and that His love is ongoing. Before the foundation of the world, God ordained that Jesus would suffer for our sins. God has big plans for your life! Do we yet understand that?

Could it be the lack of prayer? “And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray” (Mark 6:46). There are many references of Jesus praying. If Jesus needed to pray, do we not need to pray? Unless we are better than Jesus Christ we need to pray. Mark 6 tells us the story of Jesus on the mountain praying and the disciples on the Sea of Galilee in a really bad storm. They were surrounded by wind, waves and blackness, but Jesus walked on the water and saved them.

This could have been us. Jesus has gone to the Father and we are on earth surrounded by the storms of life. We need to stay close to God in prayer in order to survive. Our lives can grow cold so quickly without the times alone in prayer.

Could it be the lack of Church attendance/Christian fellowship? “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

Dan told me a story of man who had been out of church for some time. The pastor had talked with him several times, but he continued to miss church. The pastor went again to his house for a visit. The man opened the door and invited him in, knowing what the pastor was going to talk about. They sat in front of the fire place with a cup of coffee and talked about several things.

As they talked the pastor took the fire poker and pulled a small coal of fire out on the hearth. It was still burning, but as it lay there alone it grew dim and just smoked a little. Finally, the fire went out of the coal completely. When the pastor got to the door to leave, the man said “You have made your point, pastor. I’ll be in church Sunday.” We need each other for spiritual warmth.

Could it be a lack of thankfulness and praise? “Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:” (Psalm 147:7)

In prayer we often just go over some of our many blessings and give thanks for them. In so doing, we realize it is impossible to list them all. But we need to work daily at thanking God because so often we take these blessings for granted. We are told to sing with thanksgiving and praise. Our God is an awesome God and we are to praise Him and worship Him. In so doing we will feel “Our hearts burn within us.”

These are a few things in our lives that we need to maintain or increase in order to keep our fellowship with the Lord hot and not cold. Our pastor says there is no such thing as straddling the fence. He is right. The coffee is either hot or cold and so are we. Ω

The Encourager Newsletter - Vol.4 Issue 5 - March 12, 2010 - ....Global Warming is Coming! - My Shepherd

The Bible Says Global Warming IS Coming! Part II

If want a computer copy, go to encourager@biblewalking.com. In the subject line type subscribe. Please include your name.

Is God's Day of Global warming "just preaching?" Back in the 1940's a pastor was really pouring it on, expounding a Bible story when suddenly, without missing a beat he said: "Ladies, I must warn you that somebody back there in the vestibule is going through your coats and purses." He told them one time and kept on preaching. Nobody moved or looked around. After the benediction as the congregation was filing out through the back doors, suddenly one of the ladies exclaimed: "Pastor, our coats and purses are gone!" He said, "Ladies, I told you plain as day that somebody was going through your coats and purses." To which one of them replied, "Yes, I know you did. But we thought you were just preaching."

One of our biggest challenges is sorting through all of today's information to find the things that matter (Proverbs 14:12). So far, at every funeral we've attended the corpse was somebody else. Conclusion: dying is for other people. The world knows about Noah's flood and the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah but that was all those people back there in the distant past. We do not want to deal with God's coming judgment upon the earth. Lucy in Peanuts said: "I don't want any downs. I just want ups!" Let's face it my friends…judgment on the earth is coming.

Sometimes when I read a verse of scripture to somebody, they say: "Well…that's your opinion but I've got my own ideas on that." Straight out of the Bible and he thinks it's my opinion! When a generation of people has been taught—bone deep—that the earth came out of a big bang and everything of order came out of the chaos on its own, we have lost our compass and North Star. We are in more danger than the Titanic the night it sank in 1912. It's hard to think things through when our corrupt self is the greatest authority we know.

It's a stretch to believe that God would actually judge the world (Psalm 75:8) and send a global burning (Rev.14:9-11) and boils(Rev. 16:28)and earthquakes (Rev. 16:18) and armies gathering for Armageddon (Rev.14:17-20) and other catastrophes (Rev.6:8) that will kill over half the world's population in 42 months. It would help to slowly read Revelation chapters 8-18 and take it all in. Mark your Bible.

We are moving rapidly toward a one-world government—a revival of the old Roman Empire, which never really died (see the European Union). It will eventually be made up of ten effective political regions (there are currently 27). Out of the ten will arise a leader who will mold them into a powerful world government. It does not appear that the United States will be a part of the ten nations but we may assume that the United States will remain the sole support of Israel which will be there and enter into a treaty with these nations. We are going to see more American power and might shift to the European Union. We have lost our will to be "American." We have quit making things and are willingly shipping those jobs overseas.

During the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation period, the powerful leader who rises out of the ten nations of the revived Roman Empire will be a deal maker and assume his exalted place as the wonderful ruler of the world. Hitler was cheered and accepted in his early days. When we speak of a world government, we do not mean that every village on earth will be included. But the main arteries of political power that really count will be part of that structure. If you look at the map of the old Roman Empire, you will see that it covered the territory around the Mediterranean Sea but not the whole world. Yet, it is conceded that the Roman Empire ruled the world.

In the coming seven years of tribulation, everything will be geared toward a world of peace and prosperity—without God. I repeat: It will be a revived Roman Empire which never really died but became dormant. For good background I recommend the two DVD's Rome: Power and Glory. Three TV Documentary episodes on each disc. (See Netflix)

The best picture of what is coming is to study Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the huge image in Daniel 2:19-45. The Bible only speaks of four great world kingdoms: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and the Roman Empire. In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar's big image stands upon two iron legs, which are the Roman Empire—a thousand years of strong, ruthless power. Its power controlled the nations around the Mediterranean Sea. The feet of the image in Daniel 2 are a mixture of iron and clay. The great power of Rome (iron) is mixed with the fickle will of the masses and it is therefore weak in its feet.

It is at this point that a great stone is hurled onto the feet of the image and smashes the feet and the whole image into fine powder and the powder is blown away by the wind. Then the stone that smote the image on the feet of iron and clay will become a great mountain that will fill the whole earth. That stone is Christ. He will destroy and replace the last great world kingdom and impose a kingdom of righteousness upon the earth for one thousand years. That's the summary.

Young Daniel says to Nebuchadnezzar: …there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days (Daniel 2:28). The Book of Revelation picks up the threads of Daniel and expands them. If we want to understand the future for our day, we will have to study Daniel and Revelation together, plus other prophetic writings, but Daniel and Revelation are the two main books. The Bible does not stop with a bare-bones summary in Daniel. We go to the Book of Revelation and the summary in Daniel is blown up like a mini-map that fills the page. From Revelation we learn that during the last 3 ½ years the political deals will sour and the judgments of God will be so severe that the anti-Christ's hold on political power will fail. Some believe that the greatest number of conversions to Christ the world has ever seen will occur during this time but it will take place among those who have never been convicted of sin and defiantly rejected the gospel of Christ. We have this stern warning:

…because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (11) And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (12) That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2Thessalonians 2:10-12)

During that seven-year period will be the fulfillment of the prophecies of Daniel, Job, Isaiah, Haggai, Joel, Jesus, Paul, Peter, Enoch, Jude, Revelation and others. Revelation speaks of an enormous global "warming" coming in the end time, but it will be God-made and not man-made. Ω

My Shepherd—Barbara Carr

In his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, Phillip Keller begins by saying, "The Lord! But who is the Lord? What is His character? Does He have adequate credentials to be my Shepherd—my manager—my owner? And if He does—how do I come under His control? In what way do I become the object of His concern and diligent care?" Jesus said, as if to answer his question:

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15) As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16) And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 17) Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18) No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." (John 10:14-18)

Jesus tell us He is the Good Shepherd and that He knows His people. "The word 'know' here is used in the sense of affectionate regard or love. It implies such a knowledge of their wants, their dangers, and their characters, as to result in a deep interest in their welfare." (Barnes)

We really are like sheep. Sheep are naughty, disobedient and show little intelligence. Does that describe you? It surely does describe me. Knowing this He still loves us. He is interested in us—in our wellbeing. As a shepherd He is there to protect and help us.

We sheep often wander off in disobedience. Sometimes we become entangled in the world, but the shepherd does not give up on us.

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5) And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6) And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7) I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. (Luke 15:4-7)

For years I struggled with guilt over past sins. Sins I knew God had forgiven, but I had a hard time forgiving myself. I would lose confidence in my witness for the Lord. With much counseling by Dan, prayer and Bible study I am beating this problem. Like Paul I haven't arrived, but I'm reaching for the goal. He is my Shepherd.

Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. (Psa 37:24)

Am known of mine (John 10:14). Just like the sheep depend on the shepherd, we must accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and love Him. We must know His voice and follow His leading. We must be friends with Him. You know, when we accept Jesus as our Savior, He comes along side us. We can talk to Him. Our grandson was once asked why he wasn't singing. He answered, "I'm singing in my head." We can talk inside or we can talk aloud, but we do need to talk to Him. It doesn't have to be a big problem. It can be something that the two of us can laugh about. We need to know Jesus intimately.

Sheep love the shepherd enough to follow His set of guidelines. Sheep obey their loving shepherd and He leads them. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2) He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3) He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.5) Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalm 23:1-6). Ω